Cuff folding device



Feb. 15, 1938. J. LysKA 2,108,542

CUFF FOLDING DEVICE Original Filed Nov. 14, 1934 6. i..- INVENTOR. 4(/QJIEPH 4mm Patented Feb. 15, 1938 UNITED STATES ares,

PATENT oFFice Renewed October 18, 1937 9 Claims.

My invention relates to a new'and useful improvement in a cuif foldingdevice adapted for use in the manufacture of trousers and particularlyin the formation of the cuff which is customarily formed at the end ofthe trouser leg.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a cuff foldingdevice whereby the end of the trouser leg may be easily and quicklyfolded in position to formthe cuff and retained in position for thepressing operation,

Another object of the invention is the provision of a device of thisclass whereby the end of the trouser leg may be folded into cuff formingposition ready for the felling operation.

Another object of the'invention is the provision of a device of thisclass which will be simple in structure, economical of manufacture,durable, compact, light, and easily and quickly operated.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists in the combination and arrangement of partshereinafter described and claimed. v

The invention will be best understood by a reference to the accompanyingdrawing which forms a part of this specification, and in which,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of one of the gripping members used inthe invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational View of a gripping member showing it in itsinitial stage of operation.

Fig. 3 is a side elevational View of one of the gripping members showingit in its second positionof operation.

Fig. 4 is a side elevationalview of one of the gripping. members in itsfinal position of operation with a part broken away and a part shown insection.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the device in position after the foldingoperation.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on line 6--6 of Fig. 5. Y

As now customarily practiced in order to form a cuff on the end of thetrouser leg it is necessary first that the trouser leg be first turnedinside out and then cut to the proper length. There is then marked onthe cloth at the properdistances from the end two-lines to assist indetermining the proper position of fold. The fabric is then folded uponitself until the bottom line is brought into registration with the upperline. At this stage of operation the goods are basted together at theselines andv the loose fold is then felled. After this operation it isnecessary to turn the trouser inside out to properly stretch them forpressing, and then the goods are pressedv After the pressing operationthe basting threads areremoved and the trousers are again pressed tocover up the stitch marks left by the basting threads The presentinvention eliminates all necessity for basting and will affect aconsiderable saving of labor. As shown in Fig. 5 I use a pair ofstretchers, each of which is provided with an arm 9 so that the trouserleg It may be stretched into proper positionfor pressing. Each of thearms 9 is provided with a socket H in which may be engaged the fiatfaced prong l2 of a yoke formed from a piece of wire or other resilientmaterial doubled upon itself. In normal position the arms l2 are spreadapart a considerable distance greater than they would be when inoperative position as shown in Fig. 5, so that when placedin positionshown in Fig. 5 they exert an outward pressure on the arms 9 to tightlystretch thetrous'er leg and retain it in position for pressing.

Each of these stretchers comprises a preferab-ly metallic body l3 whichis formed fiat and cut away as at I l to provide the arm 9. Projectingupwardly from the body 53 is a piercing pin or prong l5 and mounted onthe upper edge E6 of the body !3 is a strip I! preferably formed fromspring metal one end I8 of which is pressed upwardly from the surface [6to provide a space for the reception of a piece of fabric. Swingablymounted on a lug or boss I9 is an arm 20 having an angularly turnedfurcation H at its pivoted end, and provided at its opposite end withthe L shaped piercing prong 22. As shown in Fig. 2 the arm 20 is adaptedto lie in engagement with I the upper face of the arm 9. When in thispositionthe end of the trouser leg may be engaged at its edge betweenthe face E6 of the body I3 and the outwardly flexed end of the strip I8, at the same time the piercing prong 22 is inserted through the fabricso that the device lies outside of the trouser leg. The body I3 is thenswung on the hook or piercing prong 22 as a pivot into the positionshown in Fig. 3. In this position the prong l5 will project through thetrouser leg and the portion 23 of the trouser leg will be doubled uponthe main body 24. The arm 20 is then swung into the position shown inFig. 4, thus again doubling the doubled-over portion upon the main body24 of the trouser leg. It will of course be obvious that when themovement from Fig. 2 to Fig. 3 is made the device is swung inwardly ofthe trouser leg so that in the position shown in Fig. 3 the device isinserted in the trouser leg. As the arm 26 is swung over the projectingend of the prong IE it will extend through an opening 25 formed in thefree end of the arm 20. This will form the cuff of the trouser and leavethe edge portion 26 to be felled. It is believed obvious that when oneof the devices is inserted at the front crease of the trouser andanother device at the rear crease of the trouser so that when thestretching handle is inserted in position as shown in Fig. 5 the trouserwill be stretched tightly and ready for pressing. When the trouser ispressed while the device is in the position shown in Fig. 5 the cuffwill be pressed into its formed position and the tailor may then fellthe edge portion 26 in the usual manner.

It is thus obvious that the formation on the cuff on a trouser legbecomes a very simple operation which may be easily and quicklyperformed. The formation of the part l2 flat faced prevents any unduerotation of the folding members so that they are securely held inposition properly aligned with each other when the stretching handle isinserted as shown in Fig. 5.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred forms ofconstruction of my invention, I do not wish to limit myself to theprecise details of structure shown, but desire to avail myself of suchvariations and modifications as may come within the scope of theappended claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. A cuff forming. device of the class described comprising an elongatedflat body; a piercing prong projecting upwardly from one edge of saidbody adjacent one end; a fabric engaging memher for slipping over theedge of a trouser leg; a swingable arm mounted on said body and adaptedfor lying in alignment therewith when swung to either side of its pivot;and a piercing prong on said arm adjacent one end thereof, said prongbeing spaced from the point of pivot of said arm a distancesubstantially equal to the width of the cuff to be formed.

2. A cuff forming device of the class described comprising an elongatedbody; means on said body for engaging and holding the edge of a trouserleg; means on said body for engaging a trouser leg and forming a pivotpoint on which said body may be swung inwardly on the trouser leg forfolding the edge portion thereof upon itself; and means on said body forfolding said folded portion upon itself to a width sufficient to form acuff.

3. A cuff forming device of the class described comprising an elongatedbody; means on'said body for engaging and holding the edge of a trouserleg; means on said body for engaging a trouser leg and forming a pivotpoint on which said body may be swung inwardly on the trouser leg forfolding the edge portion thereof upon itself; means on said body forfolding said folded portion upon itself to, a width sufficient to form acuff; and means on said body for engaging a trouser leg during thefolding operation of said folded-over portion.

4. A cuff forming device of the class described comprising an elongatedbody; means on said body for engaging and holding the edge of a trouserleg; means on said body for engaging a trouser leg and forming a pivotpoint on which said body may be swung inwardly on the trouser leg forfolding the edge portion thereof upon itself; means on said body forfolding said folded portion upon itself to a width sufficient to form acuff; means on said body for engaging a trouser leg during the foldingoperation of said foldedover portion; and spreading means for spreadingsaid body outwardly to retain the trouser leg in position for pressing.

5. A cuff forming device of the class described, comprising: anelongated body; means on said body for engaging a trouser leg andforming a pivot point on which said body may be swung inwardly of thetrouser leg and folding the edge portion thereof upon itself; and meanson said body for folding said folded portion upon itself to a. widthsufficient to form a cufi.

6Q A device for folding a cuff on a trouser leg or the like in the formof a fiat folded fabric tube having diametrically opposed edge creases,which comprises a pair of tools, one for each crease, each tool havingtwo relatively movable portions, the first of which is movable with thesecond to stuff the end of the trouser leg inwardly upon itself and thesecond of which is thereafter movable with respect to the first to rollor fold outwardly the fold thus formed to fold an outside cuff, eachtool being provided with means to retain its portions stationary and toretain the trouser leg portions in the position they assume after eachmanipulation of the tool, each tool portion having means for graspingthe trouser leg at a crease, which means are spaced apart a distancepredetermined to be the distance between the upper edge of the foldedcuff and the edge to be felled, measuring around the folded cuff.

'7. A device for folding a cuff on a trouser leg or the like in the formof a flat folded fabric tube having diametrically opposed edge creases,a

which comprises a pair of tools, one for each crease, each tool havingtwo relatively movable portions, the first of which is movable with thesecond to stuff the end of the trouser leg inwardly upon itself and thesecond of which is thereafter movable with respect to the first to rollor fold' outwardly the fold thus formed to fold an outside cuff, eachtool being provided with means to retain its portions stationary and toretain the trouser leg portions in the position they assume after eachmanipulation of the tool, each tool portion having means for graspingthe trouser leg at a crease, which means are spaced apart a distancepredetermined to be the distance between the upper edge of the foldedcuff and the edge to be felled, measuring around the folded cuff, thetool portions being movably connected at a point between these graspingmeans spaced from one of them a distance equal to the length of thecuff, whereby the trouser leg may be folded outwardly to form an outsidecuff after an end edge of the trouser leg is stuffed inwardly into thetrouser leg.

8. A tool for forming a conventional cuff on the end of a trouser leg orthe like comprising a flat blade near one edge of which, between theblade ends, is pivotally mounted an arm, means at the free end of thearm for grasping the crease of the trouser leg and spaced from the armpivot a distance equal to the desired length of the cuff, and means onthe blade for grasping the crease of the trouser leg and spaced from thearm pivot a distance no less than the desired length of the inwardlystuffed part of the trouser leg end, the arm pivot being between the twomeans aforesaid.

9. A tool for forming a conventional cuff on the end of a trouser leg orthe like comprising a flat blade near one edge of which, between theblade ends, is pivotally mounted an arm,

the two means aforesaid, the blade and arm being movable as a unitaround the crease grasping part of the arm to stuff a fold of thetrouser leg inwardly into the latter, after which the arm may movearound its pivot to fold a cufi" out- 5 wardly.

JOSEPH LYSKA.

